Welfare Rights Committee | Call Dayton @ 651.201.3400 – Tell him to say NO to the Republican cuts to the poor!

At 5:00 p.m. Thursday, Dayton and the Republicans reached a very bad budget deal. They let the rich off the hook again – no tax increase on the rich, even though it was years of tax breaks to the rich that created the deficit.

Now is the time to make sure that the poor are not sold out even more. All of the Republican attacks are back on the table during the upcoming negotiations. Call Dayton and make sure the poor, disabled and elderly are not on the chopping block.

Please tell Governor Dayton to say NO to these things.

• Dayton must say NO to the Republican elimination of General Assistance and emergency assistance programs. The $203 per month from GA is not a “supplement” to other income, it all people have; it’s GA or zilch. These programs are there to keep disabled people alive based on clear need.
• Dayton must say NO to the Republicans taking cash from families with disabilities.  The Republicans proposal cuts the MFIP (welfare for families with children) grant by $50 per adult SSI recipient who resides in the household. This uses disabled people’s federal SSI funds as a bludgeon against their impoverished family members. A cut such as this has never been carried out in any other state in the country. Also, it basically forces parents to break federal law by using the federal SSI grant for living expenses for the entire family rather than for the disabled family member as intended.
• Dayton must say NO to Republican cuts to PCA services and cuts to physical, speech and other therapies. “Our homes, not nursing homes!”
• Dayton must say NO to Republicans plans to privatize health care for low-income people.  Look at the facts. A family of 3 on MFIP gets only $532 per month – far below the federal poverty level. A disabled person on GA gets a whopping $203 to live on. When we are forced onto assistance, life is already a miserable struggle, 24-7. We don’t need any more hate-driven laws to make things even worse.

We SAY: NOT ONE DIME in CUTS to Poor and Working Minnesotans! In the upcoming negotiations before the Special Session, we call on Dayton to stand up and say NO the Republicans proposed devastation on the people of Minnesota. Reject the Republicans’ cuts!